A Late-Summer Night’s Dream : Italian Diva Cecilia Bartoli Keeps Concert-Goers, Dinner Guests Enthralled

She sang for two hours. Signed autographs for nearly two more. Then mezzo soprano Cecilia Bartoli hopped aboard a limo that whisked her to a midnight supper.

Dining with her at the Tustin home of arts philanthropist Mark Johnson were more than 100 supporters of the Philharmonic Society. Guests had paid a minimum of $200 each to celebrate the star’s debut last week at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

“I’m hungry!” said Bartoli as she stepped inside the Johnson mansion. The 29-year-old diva had enthralled a 3,000-strong crowd with her masterful interpretations of French and Italian art songs.

And exhausted? “Oh, no! I’m fine,” she said, brown eyes dancing. “It has all been wonderful, wonderful! The acoustics, the audience, wonderful .”

Joined by her mother, Silvana Bazzoni, and her piano accompanist, Steven Blier, Bartoli swept across the home’s marble entry and down a flight of stairs to take her back-yard seat under the stars.

But not before she was formally welcomed by Philharmonic President Fritz Westerhout.

“I’d like to introduce you to the young woman who has just held us all spellbound,” he told guests, who were dressed in black tie and ball-gowns.

And then, looking at Bartoli, he said: “What was it you said during a KUSC radio interview? That, when you listen to Mozart, you feel like you’ve been in heaven for a few minutes?

“Well, that is how we feel about you,” he said. “Like we have been in heaven. . . .”

Bartoli, who was seated between Johnson and gala chairwoman Margo Chamberlin, stood and bowed as guests applauded.

Then she walked around the pool and took the microphone. “Thank you very much. And buon appetito !” she said, laughing.

She was hungry.

When guests weren’t dining on penne pasta with sea bass or petite beef filets, they were rhapsodizing about the Rome-born star who sang four encores in Segerstrom Hall.

“She has the voice of the century,” said arts activist Ellie Cortese. “She is so delightful, loves so much what she is doing. She gave me goose bumps.”

Opera Pacific director David DiChiera called her “one of the great charismatic singers.”

“She is so young and so complete as an artist,” DiChiera added. “That’s what sets her apart.”

Blier, her accompanist, said: “Cecilia is beautiful to play for. She is young and very spontaneous and free. She sings with a lot of sweetness.

“My natural sound doesn’t have to be manipulated when I play for her. I play just as I would in my apartment by myself.”

Said Johnson, who helped underwrite her recital with a $50,000 donation (and who has been invited by Bartoli to attend her Metropolitan Opera debut in February): “Bartoli has the kind of instrument the center was created for. I was mesmerized. She has an incredible presence.”

Among the guests were Robert McAlear, Bartoli’s tour manager, and his aunt, Thelma Sanders of Lake Forest.

McAlear stayed with Bartoli and her mother at Sanders’ home. “They don’t like hotels,” Sanders explained.

The singer was content there, creating dishes with her mother in a family-style kitchen. “But they did say my pasta pot was not big enough,” Sanders said, smiling, “that if you’re going to cook pasta right, you need a big pot. So I got out my stock pot and they were happy.”

Also among guests celebrating the kickoff of the Orange County Philharmonic Society’s new concert season were Jack and Nancy Caldwell; Ward Chamberlin; Elaine Westerhout; Dean and Gayle Corey; Maria Crutcher; James and Patty Edwards; Donald and Karen Evarts; Edward and Helen Shanbrom; Mandy and Sheila Prell Sonenshine, and Joyce and Tom Tucker.

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Ain’t Misbehavin’: If ever a crowd had a chance to get crazy, it was Saturday night at South Coast Repertory’s ‘30s-style “Let’s Misbehave!” gala staged at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa.

A white dance floor the size of a city block was set in the center of the ballroom, beckoning 450 guests to do their Fred and Ginger thing. Mincing cigarette girls proffered candy “coffin nails” and telegrams and snapped pictures of guests.

Caricatures decorated the walls (“It feels like Sardi’s,” whispered one wide-eyed party-goer).

But misbehave, they didn’t. The scene was simply too elegant for guests to do anything but mind their manners. “This is the prettiest this ballroom has ever looked,” said Barbara Glabman, whose neck was ringed with diamonds.

Indeed. With its white-on-white decor--which included a white grand piano under a white chiffon canopy--the rectangular ballroom looked twice its size.

Clusters of palm trees softened the room’s edges. And the table centerpieces--bouquets of white roses surrounded by silver candlestick-lamps--made it all look like a glamorous ‘30s supper club.

After a “bootleg” reception held in Plaza Tower Park, a “police raid” sent guests looking for an escape route--the path to the hotel ballroom.

There, guests dined on fare that did the food committee proud: seafood quennelles , beef Wellington with foie gras and mushrooms, limestone lettuce with hazelnut vinaigrette and a cheesecake ensemble garnished with a chocolate palm tree.

Guests pulled out the stops for their fashion ensembles. Renee Segerstrom, attending with her husband, Henry Segerstrom, wore an emerald green silk sheath by Chanel. Joyce Tucker bought her black velvet and silk gown--which she accessorized with a diamond and emerald necklace--in Paris. Her husband, Tom Tucker, was suited in Versace and diamond studs.

Olivia Johnson, attending with her husband, Andy, spent weeks shopping for the perfect ball-gown, she said. And found one--in her closet.

“It’s an Oscar de la Renta,” Johnson said of the backless silk frock held up by a rhinestone strap. “I bought it in the ‘80s when we were all spending more money,” she said. “We just don’t buy them like this anymore.” (Even chic Renee Segerstrom’s Chanel was purchased years ago in Paris, she said.)

Gala proceeds of $155,000 will go toward SCR’s Annual Fund Campaign. Marilyn Lynch, an SCR trustee, was gala chairwoman. Serving on the committee were former gala chairwomen who included Segerstrom, Arden Flamson, Dee Higby, Lydia Himes, June Wankier, Michele Wankier Edwards and Louise Ewing. Other committee members included Catherine McLarand, John Kensey, Barbara Roberts and Carole McMahon Johnson.

Other faces in the crowd: SCR Board President Hal Schultz with his wife, Melody; Frank Lynch; Martin Benson; David Emmes; Mark Johnson with Wanda Harrell; Patty and Jim Edwards; Catherine Thyen; Billur Wallerich; Jim Glabman; Lydia Himes; Alex and Barbara Bowie; Dick and Marilyn Hausman; Patricia House with Peter Keller; Ellen and Ned Olivier, and Roger Martin.